Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Acquired by Lido Advisors LLC

Lido Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 57.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,366 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,601 shares during the period. Lido Advisors LLC's holdings in Equifax were worth $1,113,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax in the fourth quarter worth about $330,400,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 95.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,617,574 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $412,239,000 after acquiring an additional 791,730 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,027,817 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,281,340,000 after acquiring an additional 679,688 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equifax during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $113,896,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Equifax by 34.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 863,718 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $251,480,000 after purchasing an additional 220,109 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Equifax from $313.00 to $284.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of Equifax from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $292.00.

Equifax Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of EFX stock traded down $1.90 on Monday, hitting $262.43. The stock had a trading volume of 563,302 shares, compared to its average volume of 965,523. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Equifax Inc. has a one year low of $199.98 and a one year high of $309.63. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $238.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $252.43. The company has a market cap of $32.59 billion, a PE ratio of 54.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.68.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.41 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. Research analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This is an increase from Equifax's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Equifax's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.90%.

Insider Transactions at Equifax

In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.61, for a total transaction of $5,686,477.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 142,395 shares of the company's stock, valued at $36,539,980.95. This represents a 13.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

About Equifax

Equifax Inc operates as a data, analytics, and technology company. The company operates through three segments: Workforce Solutions, U.S. Information Solutions (USIS), and International. The Workforce Solutions segment offers services that enables customers to verify income, employment, educational history, criminal justice data, healthcare professional licensure, and sanctions of people in the United States; and employer customers with services that assist them in complying with and automating payroll-related and human resource management processes throughout the entire cycle of the employment relationship.